


Wounded Pride

by littleblue_eyedbird



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition, Solavellan - Fandom
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Interrupted Sexy Times, Nsfw content, Pride Demon - Freeform, Shapeshifting, Solavellan, solas x lavellan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-04-09 06:12:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4336973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleblue_eyedbird/pseuds/littleblue_eyedbird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While attempting to seal a rift in the Emprise Du Lion, a Pride Demon spawns majorly injuring Solas as he protects Lavellan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wounded Pride

“Seal the rift!”

Sulenera switched her attention from the terror demon she had slain at her feet to the rift at the sound of Blackwall’s voice. It rang out from across the frozen lake in the Emprise du Lion where he, Dorian, and Solas were finishing off the remaining despair demons that had escaped through the veil. Channeling her mana through the mark on her hand, she prepared to connect with the rift.

She wasn’t able to secure a connection before it lashed out forcibly; bolts of lightning began reigning down upon the party fighting on the frozen ice. A violent burst of energy sent Sulenera careening backwards. She landed hard on her back; the wind was forcefully removed from her lungs as she rolled over herself.

“Sulenera, get out of there, NOW!” Dorian’s frantic voice cried out.

She managed to get to her knees and lift her head to find a pair of giant, gnarled feet inches away from her face. She followed its rotten, scarred skin, up over its legs and chest, finally locking eyes with the demon that had forced itself out of the rift. Pride glared down at her with its numerous eyes, its mouth split into a sickening grin. The sight of it hovering over her was enough to steal away the last of her pathetic breath she had left. She still couldn’t properly breathe from the blast a few seconds prior and the lack of oxygen set her lungs ablaze.

She felt transfixed by its stare; its glowing eyes bored into hers, trapping her in place. She felt as if the demon could see every failure and dark secret she ever kept. It was feeding off her wounded pride, the heralded Inquisitor, humbled into submission. She watched as it raised its jagged, clawed hand getting ready to slam it onto her, is electric whip dancing at the ready in its other.  There was no way she was going to be able to dodge the blow in time, so she pooled her mana to erect a barrier that would hopefully stifle most of the impact, though she knew it was a foolish notion.

“NO!”

Just as Pride was going to strike her down, she felt a pair of firm hands gripping her hips as they wretched her away from the demon. She recognized the familiar sensation of fade stepping as she clutched at the cloak of her rescuer to prevent herself from falling out of his grasp. Solas and Sulenera landed tangled together a few yards away from the demon. Dorian was showering the demon in a barrage of fire balls as Blackwall taunted it from the opposite side, attempting to distract Pride from coming after Sulenera again. Both men were tormenting the demon, getting as close as they would dare without getting in range of its wildly swinging free hand. The claw it had tried to use against Sulenera had collided with the ice, puncturing the surface it was standing on. It was having a difficult time freeing itself from the hole it had punched through, and growing progressively more agitated by the taunts.  

“Sulenera, focus on me for one moment.” Worry was etched into every incantation of Solas’ voice.

He placed his hands on either side of her head to get her to stop moving. She tore her gaze away from the demon and looked into his eyes. What a drastic change from the last several pairs she had been forcibly quivering under. In his eyes, she only saw concern and relief. He was staring intently at her, checking for signs of incoherence. Her hands were still tightly anchored to the cusps of his cloak, with no intent of letting go.

Still struggling to catch her breath she stated, “We need to help them.”

“I am aware, but you will be no use if you are injured and cannot walk. They can handle it for a few minutes.”

Solas sat up, gently easing Sulenera up with him. She only slightly winced when she returned to a kneeling position.

Solas decided she wasn’t suffering from any major internal damage, since was able to move around. He searched her eyes, checking to make sure she was still with him. He touched her cheek.

“It’s going to be alright. You are in shock.” She reached up to place one of her hands over his, leaving the other fixedly entwined in his cloak. “Listen to the sound of my voice, focus your attention on taking steadying breaths.”

An unexpected explosion of noise interrupted their conversation, signifying something had gone terribly wrong behind them.  Pride had finally freed his claw from its icy hold. A panicked roar bellowed from the demon, as the ice rapidly cracked beneath it. Dorian and Blackwall bolted as fast as they could away from the breaking lines. Fissures on the glassy surface raced their way across the frozen lake to wear Solas and Sulenera were kneeling.

Sulenera watched everything happen in slow motion. The ice gave out from underneath the demon, fear reflecting in its luminous eyes as it fell into the ice water. It cracked its whip in their direction in one last act of desperation. Solas dove over Sulenera once again, shielding her from the attack. He felt the electric lash curl around his right leg, releasing excruciating currents of electricity as it pulled taught. Pain contorted on Solas’ face as they made eye contact.

“Vhena—“

Sulenera’s exclamation was cut off as Solas was torn away from her. She felt his hand slip off her face and the cloth of his cloak ripped from her other hand. She couldn’t react fast enough. She watched in horror as Solas was sucked under the freezing black water through the cracks in the ice where the demon had fallen through.

A deafening scream pierced the wintery air, echoing across the span of the valley the lake was set in. It took Sulenera a heartbeat to recognize the earsplitting noise was emanating from her. She clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle her cries as she scrambled to the fractured ice quavering on the broken surface. The expression on his face as he plunged into the ice water was going to haunt her nightmares for eternity, she was sure of it. Without thinking she made to dive in after him, but her momentum was stopped by Blackwall, who pulled her into a one armed strong hold, forcing her back from the edge.

“What are you DOING. Let me GO.” Sulenera screamed at him, writhing against his chest. He fought back, effectively keeping her at bay.

“No use losing you too, my lady.”

“Let me GO. NOW. I have to do something—anything—he’s….he’s..”

Her eyes frenziedly searched the area, settling on Dorian inspecting the water from a solid vantage point. Her thrashing began to slow down, fighting Blackwall’s tight constraint was useless. She watched the rippling on the surface return to its normal composure, her heart sinking faster than the demon.

The lake became eerily silent. Dorian kept casting distraught looks at the two of them, his search becoming less and less collected as no signs of a struggle appeared beneath the surface. He was slipping back and forth, frantically checking each gap in the ice for signs of movement. Dorian was about to give up when Solas burst through the ice, fade stepping out of the lake and onto the shore.  Blackwall dispelled a giant sigh of relief, releasing his grip on Sulenera. As soon as she was free she bounded forward to Solas. She didn’t even try to contain the bubbling panic in her chest. Solas was spluttering out water, coughing it out in heaves, convulsing profusely. Sulenera crashed beside him, pulling him close. She didn’t care if her clothes got soaked, she needed to get him to camp at the top of hill now.

“Help me” She ordered, Blackwall appeared at her side within seconds, slinging one of Solas’ arms over his shoulder, while Sulenera did the same on the other side. “Dorian, run ahead, Find and inform Cassandra and Varric, bring them back to camp. Start a fire, immediately.”

Dorian wasted no time dashing ahead. By the time Sulenera and Blackwall reached camp, Dorian had two fires going and had vanished to find the other members of their party.

“Solas, it’s my turn, look at me.”

Sulenera turned his face to hers and could only imagine the pain he must be in. He was blanched, the palest she had ever seen him. His lips stained a lovely shade of blue and his breath was ragged. He had not said a word the entire trip up to their encampment.

“Listen to me, I’m going to take care of you.” She whispered in his ear.

“I…will be …fine, Suelenera. Do not worry for me. I can…handle this. ” He made to walk away to peel off his drenched clothes, but his motions were too stiff; his fingers could hardly grasp the clasp of his cloak.

“ _Telahna_ , don’t be a fool.” She was at his side again, she undid the clasp and rid him of the saturated fabric. It had parts of it that were frozen in place, the new gust of air hit his tunic chilling him to the bone, causing his sporadic convulsions to get worse.

“You need help, I am more than willing to give it. You don’t have to be the only one to take care of yourself. Not anymore.” She grabbed his hands to steady him, and she felt how frigid they were.

Blackwall cleared his throat, a light pink dusting his cheeks.

“I’m going to join Dorian in finding the others.” He announced..

Sulenera shot him a grateful glance before he took off, but Solas’ attention had not strayed from Sulenera. Her words were still floating around in his head, muffled but gaining clarity by the second. No one ever offered him help unconditionally, there was always some catch, a chance at betrayal, a chance of being used. And yet here she was, the woman who was slowly teaching him how to trust again; who had stolen his heart. It had been how many hundreds, if not thousands, of years since he last let someone in? How many years since he had let someone care about him.

“ _Fenedhis_ , these fires aren’t going to do a damn thing. We need to get you out of those clothes and warm you up.” She jarred his thoughts as she quickly guided him to her tent. She pulled him gently through, his movements still labored.

Sulenera cast a fire glyph on the floor as she entered.

“ _Garas_.” She announced, and her purple dragon scaled grimoire leapt of the pile of her belongings. It doubled in size as it flew into her hands. She riffled through a couple pages before settling on one in particular.

“ _Viane sul’em_.” She commanded, and the book sprung to life at the elven incantation. Wisps of energy floated around the open pages as Solas watched Sulenera reach into deep into it. From its depths she removed several towels, handwoven blankets and spare sets of clothes. She left the book hovering in midair behind her as she turned to face Solas.

She dropped the pile of garments at beside their feet and went straight for his tunic. She grasped the edges and began to tug them upward, he stopped her.

“Solas you are wearing woolen clothes, they’re clinging to your skin! You’ll become hypothermic if you don’t take them off!”

“You have been ….talking with the surgeons …down in the infirmary have you not?” Solas attempted playful banter to ease the creasing lines of worry from her face, but his shaking voice was doing him no credit.

“Yes I spend some of my time there, making up for my lack of healing spells. My keeper ran out of time to properly train me before I left for the conclave. I always assumed I would have….” She trailed off, shaking her head, “That’s not important now. What is important is removing these clothes before you freeze to death.”

He let her ease off his tunic with his undershirt shortly after. He stood bare chested, shivers wracking him in waves. She grabbed one of the towels and threw it around his shoulders to dry him off.  Together, they quickly removed the rest of his clothes; fingers fumbling over the laces of his breeches, smallclothes, and foot wrappings. Solas winced as Sulenera’s fingertips grazed his right leg.

“Oh, Solas…” Her voice died as her throat closed tight. Her eyes followed the grotesque burns from the demon’s whip as they traveled from the base of his ankle, winding up and around his leg to the top of his thigh. She covered her mouth with a hand as she gasped and backed up. Solas quickly cast a minor healing spell to numb the pain before he threw the towel around his body, shielding her from the sight. Guilt grew in the pit of her stomach at not being able to heal him.  Why had she chosen to put off learning about healing? She felt helpless.

She hurriedly grabbed a fresh set of dry clothes and a very large fur lined blanket from the pile and draped it around Solas, exchanging it for his towel.

“I wish I could offer more…” she trailed off lost in thought,  having an internal debate with herself as she handed him dry clothes.

“I will be quite alright, I can hardly feel it now. Please.”

He shook his head at the clothes; he was too cold to expose his skin to the biting air again, so instead he sat in the middle of the fire glyph doing his best to hide his cringing. Sulenera placed the spare set next to him before going over once again to the heap for another towel. He wrapped his arms around himself, clutching thick blanket tighter; it pooled around him locking him a warm embrace. Exhaustion settled in as he got comfortable. He had not felt this drained since waking from Uthenera.

“Just,… distract me.” He spoke in a hushed voice.

Sulenera returned to him and draped the towel gently over his head and drying away the last bits of water from his face.

“How?” she asked softly.

“Anything. Talk to me. Tell me of something that once piqued your curiosity.”

In all honesty, he just wanted to hear the sound of her voice, it was so soothing and musical. The sound was something to anchor on to, to still his trembling limbs.

“Hmm. Give me a minute” Sulenera bit her lip, brows furrowing.

Solas watched intently as she continue to have a mental debate with herself as she began to remove her wet clothes. Suddenly the idea of her voice wasn’t the only distracting thing about her. Nearly all of her layers had gotten drenched from carrying him up the hill with Blackwall. He watched as she peeled away layer after layer exposing her to him.

Lean muscles glided beneath the tanned skin of her lithe frame, as she stripped down to only her small clothes before him. Her white vallaslin was a stark contrast on expanse of her skin.  It continued on from her face onto the rest of her body. He allowed his gaze to trace its branching lines down her neck, over the swell of her breasts, down her stomach, and dipping lower to crest over her hips. The branches of Mythal’s vallaslin claimed her thighs, spreading down her long legs finally ending on the tops her feet. Sulenera noticed where his eyes had followed, and noticed the growing hunger lingering in them.

“Distracted enough now? Or should I start talking?” She jested

He arched a brow at her, holding her gaze. “Fascinating.”

She knelt before him tugging the blanket wound around him free so she could slide in with him. The fur blanket was enormous with more than enough coverage for both of them. Solas abruptly remembered he had neglected to put on the dry clothes, leaving him naked beneath the blanket. Sulenera smirked at his surprise as she settled herself between his legs, trying to avoid bumping against his injured one. She used magic to hold the cover in place. Her proximity brought on a whole new sensation of heat inside him that had nothing to do blanket or spell cast on the floor underneath. The coy expression on Sulenera’s face made it evident she was aware of what she was doing.

“Something curious I learned from my visits to the infirmary was that utilizing body heat is one of the fastest ways to warm up another person.”

“Are you attempting to seduce me, Vhenan?”

“Tempting. It wouldn’t take much considering you’re as hard as ice, but seeing as you still can’t stop shuddering I doubt you’ll find it pleasurable.”

“I will be the judge of that.”

He leaned in to graze his lips over her cheeks, but she stopped him, pressing a thin finger to his lips.

“You didn’t let me finish. I know a faster way.”

She loosely laced her fingers together while cupping her hands to create a small basin. She gathered a small portion of mana and summoned it into the basin she created.  Her anchor began glowing brightly as white flames burst forth like liquid from center of hands. She stood one deep breath and they contained themselves, burning brightly, rippling like water. Instead of smoke the flames gave off steam, it encircled Sulenera’s hands and filled the space between them underneath the blanket.  She looked up expectantly at Solas.

“ _Eierth ise_.” He whispered and surrounded her hands with his own. He could feel the heat radiating out of from the liquid flames.

“You do recognize it. Let me guess,  _the fade_.” She accused playfully.

“You assume correctly. I have witnessed many memories of those who have sought out mastery of this ancient school of magic. Most have failed due to lack of control, either burning or freezing themselves to death. Yet you command it with such ease.”

“I am no master yet, but I have been studying it for a few years in secret. I know a few tricks I’m proficient at.”

She pressed the flames to his chest and Solas felt them settling deep within him. It was the perfect amount of heat; it slowly radiated out from his chest, down his arms, torso, and legs. He gradually regained feeling in his limbs as the heat eliminated the chill from his bones. He took a deep breath and tilted his head back. He could feel the flames grow and dance around inside his ribcage.  When he exhaled, the cold air passed through his lips in a frosty steam ,dancing away from his face. It was the oddest sensation.

“Where did you learn this type of magic Sulenera? To my knowledge, frostfire fell out of favor centuries ago. It is quite rare.”  She constantly surprised him, her wisdom, her spirit, were unmatched by anyone or anything he had met in his ancient life, despite her youth.

A small smile ghosted on her lips, excitement danced in her eyes. She waved her hand to summon her grimoire. It floated over to where they were cuddled together. She reached once more into its depths and withdrew a white book. The cover was purest of shade of snow, cool to the touch. With a flick of her wrist she sent the grimoire back to the corner it from whence it came. She held the book out for Solas to see. It was an ancient text describing the application of Frost Fire, a subset of the winter school of magic.

“Weren’t you also curious as to where I learned my elven? My keeper was able to teach me some phrases and words…but most of it I’ve picked up from translating this book. It’s entirely written in our language but there are parts of it I can’t decipher.”

She peered down at her book, running nimble fingers over its spine. Clearly it held a great deal of sentimental value to Sulenera.

“I’ve been debating whether or not to show you this for some time. I know it’s your area of expertise. It’s just hard for me to feel comfortable enough with someone to share my interests, especially those I hold dear. I normally don’t share my secrets with anyone. That is now except for you.” She confessed

“I truly appreciate your willingness to share your hidden talents with me Vhenan.” He was flattered someone would trust him like this. “Would you like me to help you the passages you are experiencing difficulty with?”

Her eyes lit up at the offer and Solas couldn’t help but smile.

“Read it out loud, I will pick up where you trail off.”

She shifted in his lap so she could lean on him, resting her head against his shoulder before reading the elven passages out loud. Her elven was more fluid than he expected, it rolled off her tongue gracefully. It excited him. Her bare skin against his caused the fire in chest to burn much more fiercely, coupled with the silkiness of her voice. He had dreamed of what it would feel like to touch her, to feel her skin beneath his fingertips. She was barely a breath away, her body draped over his with the frost fire tome in her lap.

He allowed his impulse to get the better of him, letting his hand lazily graze the length of her left thigh as she spoke. Her voice faltered as his fingers repeated he motion, over and over. Sulenera found it hard to focus on the elven text as his hand grew bolder and bolder. Solas felt her inhale sharply as his fingers caressed her inner thigh, trailing painfully slow across the fabric of her small clothes.

“You are a tease.” She said without looking at him.

“You find it enjoyable, do you not?” He nipped at the skin on her neck , while sliding one hand around her waist.

“I can think of a few more enjoyable things.”

“Such as?”

“ _Lasa ar’an alas’nira aron fen’en_ ”,she whispered in a low alluring voice.

He took that as a challenge, taking her chin in his hand as he turned her head to face him. The book was abruptly forgotten when it fell from Sulenera’s hand as Solas brought her lips up to meet his.  She twisted her body around to fully commit to the kiss, her mouth barely leaving his as she did so. She eased him down to lie on his back, hitching her legs over his hips to straddle him.

She leaned forward pressing her mouth to his chest, leaving a feathery trail of kisses up to his neck. She traced his sharp jawline with her tongue before biting down hard on the soft skin where his jaw connected with his neck. It sent waves of rippling pleasure down his spine. Solas let out low growl as his hand wound into Sulenera’s golden hair, dragging her back to hover over his face. He claimed her mouth once again, this time more urgently. He could feel her smiling through their exchange, and parted her lips ever so slightly, allowing him to deepen their kiss.

Her hands explored his exposed flesh, discovering every divot, swell of muscle, and groove of his body while he did the same to hers. He traced her vallaslin with his fingers down her neck. He felt the indentation of her jagged scar cross her collarbone that stemmed from the left side of her temple. He followed it over the curve of her breast, where he lingered for a moment. She wretched his hand away and lowered to the space between her thighs.

“So eager.” He murmured against her throat.

He grabbed the fabric of her smalls and pulled them down granting him access to her slit, slipping his fingers into her. He began a rhythmic pulse; with each pressing movement he released a small bit of mana, amplifying the sensation. Sulenera groaned and guided his hand deeper. He felt her body react in time with this rhythm, grinding against him. He could feel the tension starting to build in her core, mirroring his own.

Just as she was about to beg for more, a voice sounded near their tent.

“I’m going to check on them, I daresay I’ll be extremely disappointed if I find out I’ve lost my elven encyclopedia to a cold.” Dorian called out to someone behind him.

Solas and Sulenera froze, locked in their heated embrace. Sulenera’s eyes widened in dread as they listened to Dorians rapidly approaching footsteps.

“ _Fenedhis_! Wha—“

Solas withdrew his hand and quickly pulled Sulenera down to his chest rolling her over, ignoring the muted pain from the burns on his leg. Hastily, he pulled the blanket up just enough to make them somewhat modest before the entrance of the tent was pulled back.

“Stop! Don’t come in any further!” Sulenera called out to him, Dorian froze only catching a glimpse of the two elves laying entangled together before stepping away from their tent, letting the flaps fall into place.  

“But.. but …Sulenera how could you?” Dorian feigned a hurt tone, “I thought what we had was special?” She couldn’t see it but she knew that the Altus’ face had broken out into a mischievous smirk.

“LEAVE. NOW.”

“Consider me gone.” Dorian chuckled

They listened as his footsteps faded away. Solas released a heavy sigh.

“He won’t let us live this down. I’m going to have to kill him.” Sulenera declared.

Solas looked down and could see Sulenera covering her face with one of her hands. He noticed the edges of her cheeks were blossoming beautifully into colors of a sunset, her hair splayed like golden flames around her head. He gently pulled her hand away from her face and raised it to his lips.

“If you need assistance, I will gladly support you in extracting revenge.”

More voices rang out through the camp;  Cassandra, Varric, and Blackwall had returned. Dorian joined their conversation, not too far from their tent.

“Where are they? How is Solas, is he alright?” inquired Cassandra, her voice muffled through the fabric of the tent.

“Oh they are a bit indisposed at the moment, restoring a bit of their elven glory so to speak.” was Dorian’s reply.

Sulenera blanched as she pursed her lips, “That’s it. He’s done for.”

It took Solas only a second to realize what Sulenera was going to do and react. Purple smoke began to billow around her form as he pushed himself off of her. Somehow he still managed to get a mouthful of white fur as she shapeshifted into a large wolf and bolted out of the tent.

He heard a high pitched yelp that could only have belonged to Dorian followed by the sound crunching snow beneath feet running at top speed around the camp. Solas let out soft chuckle as he gathered himself up. He picked up the dry clothes he had neglected top put on earlier and dressed himself. He continued to hear the scuffle outside paired with Blackwall’s amused laughter. Solas grabbed the fur blanket drew it around himself before crawling to the edge of the tent.

He peered out to watch the commotion.  Dorian was helplessly ducking behind trees and jumping over logs to avoid getting nipped at by Sulenera in her wolf form. He was laughing  as he packed snow into small balls with magic and launching them at the wolf. She easily evaded his attacks and was gaining on Dorian.

“Uh, here.” Blackwall thrust a tin mug down at Solas. “It’s not tea or anything. I know you don’t care for the stuff.”

Solas accepted Blackwall’s drink peered down at the steaming dark fluid before taking a sip. It was coffee.

“I don’t know if you like that either but uh, at least it’s hot. It’ll warm you up.” Blackwall raised his own mug and took a long drink.

“My thanks, it was a kind gesture.”

Solas continued to watch as Sulenera closed in on her prey. She nimbly leapt forward, pouncing on Dorian’s back causing him to face plant into a big pile of snow on the outskirts of their camp. An eruption of laughter echoed throughout the site.

“Hey sparkler,” Varric called out to Dorian in between fits of laughter. Dorian lifted his now snow covered face to glare at all of them. “You got a little somethin’ in your mustache.”

A low rumbling chortle emanated from behind the mug at Blackwall’s lips.  Echoes of Varric and Cassandra’s amused reactions floated over to where Solas was sitting.

“Ha ha.  _Excruciatingly_  funny, Master Tethras.” Dorian quipped while hoisting himself up out of the snow, brushing off clumps that clung on his clothes and face.

Solas smiled at the exchange, as Sulenera proudly saunter back over to their tent. She left Dorian to collect himself. When she reached Solas, he reached out affectionately to rub her behind the ears before bringing his head to rest on hers, his lips parting in a playful smile.

“Are you satisfied with your revenge?”

Sulenera gave a contented whine, nuzzling against Solas’ face.

 _“Ma ane arasha,_ _ma fen’ina’lan’ehn_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Elven Translations:  
> Garas- Come  
> Viane sul’em- Open for me  
> Eierth ise- Snowfire/frostfire  
> Lasa ar’an alas’nira aron fen’en- Let us dance as wolves do/let’s make love/fuck  
> Fenedhis-shit/fuck, typical elven curse  
> Ma ane arasha- you are my happiness  
> Ma fen’ina’lan’ehn- my beautiful wolf
> 
> All Elven phrases taken/created from fenxshiral's Project Elvhen.
> 
> *Frostfire is a subclass of Winter Magic that I created


End file.
